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I'm not sure but the one on Dave's site could be a arishiyama 1k/6k. I'd suggest just buying a good 1k stone for now before jumping into higher grits. I get pretty good edges on my 1kish stone now but still lose sharpness when I go to 6k as I'm still learning

a few others, then i'd get a 400-600 rough grit stone and a 1k grit medium stone..... judging from what you've said about your coworkers' knives, they'd be pretty darn chipped out and battered so a rough grit stone would be a must.

a few others, then i'd get a 400-600 rough grit stone and a 1k grit medium stone..... judging from what you've said about your coworkers' knives, they'd be pretty darn chipped out and battered so a rough grit stone would be a must.

nope. with the steel, you'll only end up rounding the edge even more. steels are used to true an edge and not sharpen. =D

only reason i'm suggesting separate stones vs. combo stones is because there's gonna be more knives to be sharpened. so you need more "stone" than most. since 2 separate stones are generally thicker than a combo stone, i'd go that route.

And no I barely have enough money to get a knife, the stone will have to wait a while.

Money being tight, I think the FKM range that was suggested a lot at the beginning of the thread is a good choice. I am thinking of getting one of their suji knives at the moment as they are by all reports very good knives for the price. Just google Fujiwara FKM to find lots of forum threads praising these knives.

The thing about not getting a stone though is that if you aren't going to properly sharpen these things, you might as well just save the money and get a cheap knife. That 1k/6k is still at $20 on ebay at the moment and would be a fine stone for you to start with. It will probably climb a few bucks, but you can get them brand new for about $50 so it won't go that high.

And no I barely have enough money to get a knife, the stone will have to wait a while.

If you buy a knife but don't have any stones to sharpen it, that knife, in a short while, is not going to be any better than the beater knives you have there.

Since you're a professional cook, and considering your budget is that small, I would recommend one medium grit stone (anywhere from 1k to 2k) and buying the cheapest, decent knife you can afford. I would not recomend a combo stone because the benefit of going to a higher grit would likely be very short term because your crew doesn't seem to take care of knives.

If you buy a knife but don't have any stones to sharpen it, that knife, in a short while, is not going to be any better than the beater knives you have there.

Since you're a professional cook, and considering your budget is that small, I would recommend one medium grit stone (anywhere from 1k to 2k) and buying the cheapest, decent knife you can afford. I would not recomend a combo stone because the benefit of going to a higher grit would likely be very short term because your crew doesn't seem to take care of knives.

BTW - What kind of budget are you talking about?

Thanks guys, I guess since I have never really used a stone except this crappy one my boss has I never realized how important they were.

My budget is around $120 tops.

Also, is there anything wrong with the KHM Santoku style? No one has really talked about them much but Ive used quite a few santoku style blades and I like the way they work.